Hanseatic city of Höxter

Höxter

Höxter, right in the middle of the Weserbergland, is one of the oldest towns in northern Germany. First mentioned as "villa hucxori", the town comes into the light of written tradition in 823. Emperor Louis the Pious acquired the settlement and donated it to the still young Corvey Monastery. In the years that followed, the town benefited from the rise of the imperial abbey and developed into an important long-distance trading centre due to its favourable location on important trade routes. Early on, the town was granted market and minting rights and the increasingly wealthy burghers were allowed to protect their wealth with strong walls. At the same time, the burghers increasingly wrestled more and more rights from the Corvey sovereign, which repeatedly led to conflicts, some of them bloody.

Today, the historic old town is characterised by some of the most important buildings of the Weser Renaissance. The burghers' houses and former aristocratic courts, richly decorated with fan rosettes and carvings, bear witness in their ever-differing designs not only to the wealth of the builders but also to the creativity and magnificent skills of the craftsmen of the past. But Höxter offers more than history at every turn. The diverse gastronomic offer with numerous beer gardens and great cafés, high-quality accommodation and shopping facilities make Höxter a very lively town and the ideal base for a holiday in the Weserbergland.